Ashes
by IamKatniss1264
Summary: They lost the Giant War. Everything is gone. Camp, New York, the Campers. But Lila is not alone, as she thought she was. "There are none left. None left, except me." Rated T for (lots of) character death.
1. A Discovery

**A/N- Yay! PJO stories! Warning: This will be sad. Takes place about five months after MOA. Disclaimer: I do not own anything but OC's. If I owned PJO, they would not have fallen into Tartarus. Piper and Jason would have. (SORRY JASPER FANS) **

I sit between the shells of two broken skyscrapers. A pile of somber, dusty bricks lie behind me, and I sit upon the charred gray ashes of New York City. The sun dips under the ashen skyline. Monsters-Greek, Roman, and Egyptian- roam the streets, looking for stray mortals or half-bloods.

There are none left.

None left, except me.

I am Lila. My mother was Athena, before the gods fell. We lost the giant war last month, when Gaea finally rose and attacked. The seven children of the Great Prophecy are all dead. Camp is gone. New York is destroyed. There is nothing remaining from the age of the gods.

The cool evening air bites into my skin. The sun has now completely sunk under the horizon, providing a darkness that I have grown to know.

Tugging my tattered azure sweatshirt around my shoulders, I glance down at the peppery ground. I wear an old orange Camp Half-Blood t-shirt, along with ripped denim jeans. My battered tennis shoes are blue and red, though you can barely tell. My curly blonde hair falls below my sholders, and my celestial bronze sword hangs from my belt.

Suddenly, I hear a loud _CRUNCH! _Swiftly, I skitter backwards, assuming a monster stood before me. Shaking with fear, I draw my sword and rise onto my feet.

Slowly, I approach the sound's maker.

"GO BACK TO TARTARUS!" I shout. Swinging my sword, I hear a loud shriek from in front of me.

Luckily, the maker of the noise ducks. Looking at the disturber for the first time, I see that it is not a monster, but a human. I lower my sword and approach him.

There are two of them. As my mind recognizes the pair, I shriek and throw my arms around one.

"Annabeth!" I yell at my sister. My heart explodes with glee as I pull away. Her gray eyes filling with tears, she grins triumphantly.

"Lila? What happened?" Percy, the one who stands next to her, asks.

Looking down, I whisper, "You want the short version or the long version?"

Annabeth states, "Long version. "

Simultaneously, Percy shouts, "Short version!" Annabeth shoots him an angry glare and whaps his arm. In response, he yelps and rubs his arm, "Long version. Definitely long version."

I lead them into the alley and begin.

"It started when you left for the quest..."

**A/N- This is fun to write! Should I continue? Plz leave a review!**


	2. A Memory

**A/N- I decided to continue this story. This is so much fun! Love PJO! Thanks to reviewer! This is Lila telling the story. **

"The Hunters are here!" My half-brother, Malcolm, called excitedly. We had Iris-Messaged Thalia and the Hunters earlier today, and thankfully they were hunting the Kraken in the Hudson River. Grinning with relief, I glanced down Half-Blood Hill to see a group of adolescent girls armed with bows and arrows.

Thalia, who led the Hunters of Artemis, approached the border guards- Malcolm, Travis and Connor Stoll, Clarisse, Chris Rodriguez and I. She gave a slight smile, but then went straight to questioning us, "Where are the Romans?"

Travis pointed towards an advancing group with a grimace. Following his gaze, I saw at least three-hundred very armed, very lethal Romans. Even with the children of the minor gods, we didn't have half of that amount. Plus, Chiron was called to Olympus last week, and so he could not aid us.

"We only have a few minutes," I stated, my throat closing up. _How can we even think of beating them?_ My mind asked. "The plan," I tell Malcolm simply.

My half-brother nodded and turned to the Greeks behind us, "Positions!" The half-bloods scampered into trees, hid behind rocks, aimed bows, and raised swords. The Hunters notched their arrows and waited.

Moments later, they arrived. Screaming, "FOR ROME!" , they raced forwards. Malcolm, our unofficial leader , raised his sword and replied, "FOR GREECE!"

We sprinted past Thalia's pine tree and down the hill, ready to defend our camp.

Our first casualty was Mrs. O'Leary. The hellhound had leapt at a pale, snotty-looking Roman soldier in a purple toga. Another Roman ran forward, shouting, "NO!". The dog whimpered as he exploded into golden dust.

Percy loved that dog.

The Hunters fired arrow after arrow, but it was to no avail. The Romans were soon upon us.

"Take no prisoners," the pale one screamed. They listened, showing us no mercy.

Three of the Hunters were pierced with gold-tipped arrows, falling dead in an instant. Katie Gardner, the daughter of Demeter, was stabbed with a golden sword. Travis cried so hard, his heart broken for his late girlfriend.

He was murdered in cold blood moments later.

They didn't stop until dark. The attacks were sustained from noon until night, the Roman's ruthlessness never ceasing. One by one, I watched my friends fall. Malcolm. Jen, a child of Hermes. Connor. Thalia. Maria, a child of Nike. Chris. Castor. Almost everyone.

By late evening, only Clarisse, Phoebe, and I remained. _Three _out of more than one-hundred fifty. While Phoebe had remained somehow unscathed, Clarisse had a sword cut along her face. I took an arrow to my shoulder, and received a deep wound in my left leg. We checked their pulses, but no one was left alive.

I saw Clarisse, crying over her boyfriend, Chris. Phoebe stood shell-shocked amidst the corpses, while I stood sobbing over my dead best friend, Marlene, daughter of Hermes.

Limping to the daughter of Ares, I whisper, "Hey, Clarisse." She doesn't respond. Clarisse clasps Chris's lifeless hand, tears wetting her cheeks. Our wails mingle together as we sit in the sodden sage grass, mourning everything and everyone that I have loved. A crushing weight sat upon my heart, and that pained me more than the wounds I received.

"How could they do that?" I whispered. Clarisse just shook her head, as lost and confused as I was.

Tears again filled my eyes. The Romans took our Camp. Vaguely in the distance I saw the stuck-up Roman in the purple toga light a match. Handing it to a small, lithe girl next to him, he said something I couldn't hear. The girl tossed the lighter at the Hermes Cabin and chanted an inaudible spell.

Suddenly, the flames grew, soon engulfing the entire cabin. The fire leapt from cabin to cabin, soon swallowing the amphitheatre and arts-and-crafts center. In minutes, the entire Camp was engulfed in heat and tongues of awful flames.

"We have to go," Phoebe stated, her voice hoarse. Clarisse shook her head.

"No. I'm staying here to defend my Camp," She stated through tears.

"There's nothing left to defend!"

"I'm staying too," I whisper. Their gazes fall on me. Though I was terrified of another day of combat, I could not let these people-no, these _monsters_- take my home away. Not after they had killed my friends. I would fight as long as I could stand.

Phoebe shook her head, "No. We're going to Olympus. We'll be safe there."

"No!" Clarisse barked, "I will not... I won't..." She had taken a shaky breath before continuing, "I won't just _run away._ I'm not a coward."

Phoebe's nostrils flared, "_LOOK AROUND YOU! WHAT WOULD THEY SAY!?" _She sighed, and crossed her arms, "They'd say to go. They'd say not to die for them."

Clarisse looked down, "No."

Phoebe ran her hand down her face. "Then let her go. How old is she, twelve? She could tell Olympus what happened to the Camp," She proposed, "We stay and fight."

"Okay," Clarisse stated, satisfied with this deal.

"No! I am not-" I began.

"Girl, you have to tell them what they did to us. They're so caught up in themselves that they probably didn't notice. Tell them, and then they'll come to help us, and we'll avenge them," Clarisse said, her voice on the verge of tears.

As I saw the pair of girls in front of me, I knew that I had to go. They wouldn't stop fighting me until I caved in. In that time, the Romans could damage the Camp even more. So, I agreed. I took off sprinting, hoping to the gods that they could survive until I reached Olympus.

I wish that I hadn't let them stay.

I arrived at the Empire State Building at daylight.

Entering the lobby, I tell the security guard, "600th floor." He laughed heartily.

"There is no 600th floor, kid. Stop wasting my time," He stated in a gleeful voice.

I slammed my hand on the desk. "This _kid _just watched her friends die. This _kid _just saw her home burned to the ground. And this _kid _needs to get on Olympus _now!" _I screamed. His eyes widened, but he tossed the security key onto the desk.

After an agonizingly long elevator ride, I finally arrived on Olympus. The streets, once filled with minor godlings, was deserted. As I ran towards the palace, I realized that I did not hear the loud sounds of arguing from my relatives.

Bursting through the huge golden door, I saw but a lone Olympian hovering silently over an Iris message. The Ophiotaurus was nowhere to be found. The throne room seemed barren and deserted without the Olympians.

"Lord Poseidon?" I asked softly. The sea god turned toward me. He was in his smaller form, and his green eyes were filled with tears as salty as the sea. He motioned toward the Iris Message, and I walked slowly towards it.

The IM showed a terrible event. Gaea's forces fought Jason, Piper, Leo, Nico, and two Romans. The demigods were losing terribly. Jason, the son of Zeus, fell on the dead, killed by a gorgon. The others were soon to follow.

"No," I whispered. Gaea rose from the ground, her brown hair twisted with leaves and roots. She had taken the form of Piper, possessing her lifeless body and using it as a host. The Olympians came, ready to fight, but it was to no avail. One by one the gods fell, Gaea's power being too great. My mother... tears sprung to my eyes as her essence, along with the other gods, was dragged into Tartarus.

"I fled. I was a coward," Poseidon states shakily. I shake my head, trying to clear the blurriness that has evaded my brain.

"I was too," I manage through tears.

The sea god waves his hand through the image, revealing another scene. Percy Jackson hung off the edge of a cliff face, my sister, Annabeth's hand in his free one.

"We're staying together," He whispered, "You're not getting away from me. Never Again."

There are tears forming in Annabeth's eyes as she says, quietly, "As long as we're together."

A moment later, Percy let go of his handhold and plummeted into the pit of despair, my lone surviving sister in tow.

Tears ran freely down my cheeks as Poseidon waved his hands through the rainbow message.

"Camp is gone," I cried.

Poseidon nodded, "I saw the footage. The world is falling apart at the seams. The age of the gods is over. I am fading now, as we speak. Without my brethren, however irritating they may have been, I am without power." I noticed, then, how Poseidon was beginning to shimmer. He slowly faded into a man-shaped form of golden dust.

At this time, I thought I heard the words, "I love you, my Sally..." before the god's essence was carried away to Tartarus.

I had no other option. I sprinted down to the elevator, Olympus's grand streets beginning already to crumble.

Inside the small, quiet elevator, I screamed, every ounce of agony and despair I held in my flowing out through a few words.

"No! Why!? I fought for Olympus, helped save the world! Why did this happen!? Percy and Annabeth, they were the best people in the camp! Clarisse tried to be a hero! She's probably dead now! We didn't attack the Romans, yet they destroyed my home, took everyone I loved! The gods... they weren't all bad! They've been taken to Tartarus! There are so many good people in the mortal world, and now they will die too! They have no control, can't even fight for themselves! Oh, gods, why!?" I wailed, helplessly sitting on the elevator floor, as my world crumbled around me.

Sitting there, I prayed that sometime I'd awake from the terrible nightmare.

**A/N-Next Chapter will be up soon. That was extremely depressing... took me like 2 hrs to write. Hope you guys liked it! :)**


	3. A Death

**A/N- I'm back! Thanks to VirtualViola03 for reviewing! **

_An Oath To Keep With The Final Breath..._

Annabeth is crying. Her tears drip down her cheeks like turrets of rain. Wrapping his arm around her, Percy does not seem to register the fact that everything is gone. He seems genuinely shocked when he does feel the wetness on his cheeks, the salty tears that match Annabeth and I's.

"Everyone?" The daughter of Athena manages through sobs. I nod, sniffling. Retelling the story of the demise of my home hurts, no matter how many times I think of it.

I see it when I close my eyes. Vast strawberry fields, the children of Dionysus raising the miniscule bushes, causing them to produce bountiful fruits. All of us belting out campfire songs around a colossal bonfire. Malcolm or Annabeth or Raleigh waking up at three in the morning in our cabin, an idea for a blueprint or plan fresh in their brains. Each memory pierces my heart like an arrow from a child of Apollo's bow.

All three of us are buried deep inside our grief, and the now painful memories of home. None of us notice the horde of monsters approaching us from behind until it is too late.

A harpy swooped down from the air and lifted Annabeth into the sky. Percy and I rise from the ground, screaming. Drawing Riptide, Percy shouts Annabeth's name over and over, but it is to no avail. The claws of the harpy plunge into my sister's heart and she plummets to the ground.

"ANNABETH!" Percy yells and sprints to the place she shall land on just in time. She falls into his outstretched arms, blood seeping from her wound.

In moments she is lying on the ground, Percy and I both hovering over her. Tears fall from Percy's blotchy red face. He clutches my sister's hand in his, whispering, "C'mon Wise Girl. You'll be alright. _I swear on my life, on the River Styx, on all the thrones of Olympus that you'll be okay_." His words, though, I know are lies. Blood slowly trickles from the side of her mouth, and her face grows paler by the second.

The blonde-haired Daughter of Athena manages a small smile. "Love you, Seaweed Brain."

Annabeth's hand goes slack and she closes her stormy gray eyes for the last time.

Percy's green eyes widen and fill with a new wave of tears. I want to cry, too, over my fallen sister, but my eyes seem to be out of teardrops. The weight around my heart simply becomes heavier. With each death the burden threatens to crush me.

Turning away from Annabeth, I see the other monsters closing in on us. There are at least two-hundred; far too many for the two of us to defeat. I am not fully sure Percy can even fight.

"Uhh... Percy?" I implore. Ignoring me, he refuses to leave my sister's side.

So, I turn alone, facing the horde of lethal creatures in front of me, preparing to either avenge my home, my friends, and my family, or die trying.

**A/N- OKEE! I need 5 reviews, or I won't put in the last part. (MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA) It will be a Narrator POV. BYE!**


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